Lost
by FuryEnder
Summary: Excalibur, better known as Jack, is lost. His entire cell was killed by the infested, and he alone survived. All he wants is to get back home, to his allies, his friends. But, soon he may question who is, and isn't an ally.
1. Chapter 1

Excalibur dashed into a small storage area, locking the door behind him. Outside, the sound of infested could be heard. They clawed at the door, trying in vain to bash their way in. The sounds of screeching and roaring was poison to the ears, and Excalibur desperately wanted it to stop. He leaned on a wall, and slowly sank down.

Make it stop, he murmured, please just go away. His helmet retracted, leaving his face exposed to the air. Excalibur was known as Jack to his friends. Jack had brown hair in a buzz cut, military style. He had ocean blue eyes, and a perfectly tanned skin. Nothing, however, in this situation was perfect.  
>He was alone.<p>

Excalibur scanned his memories, trying to find out what went so drastically wrong. What started out as a simple extermination mission became a death sentence. His warframe cell was dead. He saw them get overrun by infested, he heard the sick cries of glee as they obliterated the shields and tore into the armor, he smelled the metallic scent of blood. They were dead. He shut his eyes, trying to keep the tears in. Jack knew those Tenno. They were veterans. They were a thousand times more skilled than he was. Yet, Jack was the one who survived.

The sounds of infested outside ceased. Outside there was only carnage. Infested bodies littered the ground, and sword marks could be seen on all of them. Blood flowed freely on the ground. Further, into another room, different marks could be seen. Fist marks could be seen on an ancient infested, no doubt one of Rhino. Organs could be seen everywhere, the result of Nova's molecular prime. Acid sizzled on the ground, burning through the flesh and produced a sick odor, Saryn's doing. There were not only infested bodies. There were dead Tenno. Three figures lay on the ground. Around them, large mounds of infested bodies lay. These Tenno put up a fight, but more and more infested came.  
>Excalibur clenched his fist together. These infested... These nuisances killed 3 Tenno.<p>

Then, suddenly the noise outside increasked dramatically. They began hurling themselves at the door, denting the metal alloy. The door groaned as it was slowly opened. Excalibur grabbed his sword, and ran to the other side of the room. He gripped his Skana tightly, at held it at ready. The intensity of the attack increased, until all Excalibur heard was screeching infested.

The door was suddenly opened, and infested came pouring in. Jack quickly slash dashed through them, and then followed up with a quick radial blind. They screamed in agony as their vision was blinded by light. Excalibur raced outside the room, and began running. He super jumped up onto a small beam supporting the ceiling, and went into stealth. Jack would be terrified, but Tenno are trained to calm themselves in situations like this one. His heart beat, however, pounded.

Excalibur could see the infested running and crawling around, trying to find him. Suddenly, he saw an infested ancient. It moved around slowly, unlike it's smaller brethren. Sniffing the air, it looking around where Jack was hiding. Excalibur looking at the ancient, and tried to not move a single muscle.

It made eye contact. For seconds, they stared at each other. Then, with a terrifying screech it launched one of its arms, grabbing Excalibur and hurling him to the ground. The other infested immediately took notice, and raced over to attack him.

Excalibur fought back savagely, twirling his sword in a way only masters could accomplish, beheading and slaughtering the infested. More kept on coming, and Jack knew what would happen.

He was going to die.

All of a sudden, shouts came and lasers flowed through the air. Infested screamed as the lasers made contact. As quickly as it begun, the infested were gone. The ancient sighed, and as it was torn apart by the lasers, it made eye contact with Jack.

_You are very lucky_, it seemed to say.

Jack fell down to the ground, his armor was ripped in several pieces, and his body was in extreme pain. His visor, thankfully, was still intact. Warning messages floated across the screen, and Excalibur struggled to read them all. Armor damaged in 83 places, immediate withdrawal advised, one read. Bio signatures damaged, link to Lotus cut off, another said. Jack closed his eyes, his body felt like it was on fire. He felt at least 3 ribs broken, and his head felt like it was going to explode.

Jack moved as to sit up, but searing pain coursed through his entire body. Everything around him was a blur. Another warning message popped up: bio signatures detected, Corpus units incoming. He sighed, or at least he tried but nothing came out, not more enemies, he thought.

"It's a Tenno!" A box-headed Corpus unit exclaimed, "Should we kill it?"

"No, you blathering idiot. Can't you see this is valuable technology? Besides, he's out cold." A feminine voice rang out. Oddly, Excalibur was soothed by it. He was painfully lifted by someone. He could see a box head looking down at him. MOAs clicked and made electronic noises all around him.

"Now, no one is going to hurt this betrayer, got it?" The female once again ordered the others. She glanced down at him, her box head retracted and he could see her full face. She was beautiful to him, with milky brown eyes and dark black hair.

"Don't worry, you're safe now..."

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><p><strong>Thanks so much for reading this! I'll continue the story soon, just hang in there.<strong>

**-FuryEnder**


	2. Chapter 2

Excalibur awoke to the sound of whirring mechanics and a pain in his left arm. Groaning, he opened his eyes, only to see darkness. Blinking his eyes in confusion, his vision suddenly cleared and a swarm of warning messages and blinking lights flooded into his HUD. There were so many messages, that they blocked up his whole visor, effectively blinding him. He sighed, and began to manually close every single one.

_Catastrophic blood loss_

_Multiple injuries sustained_

_Armor penetrated in multiple areas_

Honestly, the warnings made it sound much worse than it actually felt. He felt great, besides the fact that his left arm felt like it was on fire. He also couldn't move very well. It's like something held him back from let's say adjusted a leg or sitting up. He could move his head just fine, but everything below his shoulders resisted his urge. Great, he was injured and paralyzed. This was what Tenno were trained for. Go into battle, fight, get hurt, get medical attention, go back into battle. It was just a constant cycle. Of course, Jack didn't mind the killing. He never knew anything outside of it. His earliest memories were fuzzy, he couldn't even remember his parents. Come to think of it... He couldn't remember anything before his time in the cryopod very well. There were snippets of memories here and there, but put together they made no sense.

Jack was jolted out of his thoughts as he heard a door open. Craning his head, he saw someone in a lab coat. Then his training kicked in, he analyzed the door opening sound he had heard, it was efficient and smooth... Obviously Corpus design. If the doors were Corpus, then he was in a Corpus base, which meant the man in the lab coat was also Corpus. That meant he was going to get dissected really soon. Fantastic.

"How are you feeling?" A feminine voice asked softly. Woman in a lab coat, Excalibur corrected himself. I'm going to be dissected by this lady.

Jack chose not to answer her. He wasn't sure he could, he vaguely remembered something about the helmets being soundproof, something about not wanting captured Tenno to reveal secrets about the Lotus...and Jack was exactly that.

"Silly me, your helmet's on..." With that, she deactivated his suit and took off his helmet with apparent ease. "How about now?"

Jack just stared at her. It took a week of training to deactivate a Tenno suit... And she had done it in seconds. Even _he _had trouble with it, usually Tenno just say a command and the helmet slides down folding into the suit. No one really ever needed to deactivate their suit. Who was this woman, and how did she know? There were certain button combinations that had to be memorized. Then there were rules on how hard you had to press the buttons. Jack never understood that either, but apparently the Orokin took warframe security seriously. For good reason as well.

"You can talk, it's fine. We're not going to dissect you, we just want... Well... Never mind. He'll tell you soon enough." She told him soothingly, as a mother would calm her child. That reminded him a little bit of the Lotus. Of course, Lotus was usually just an operative, directing him. But sometimes... Just sometimes she would speak with that same tone. She had especially loved her Kubrow, it was a cute little thing. Occasionally, when he walked past her operations room, he would see her talking to her Kubrow in the same tone. It reminded him that even though she was their leader, she was still human. They were all human.

"You were the woman from the infested ship!" Jack blurted out. How had he not seen it before? She had the same brown eyes, the same fair skin.

The woman smiled at him, "Yes. We didn't expect to find any Tenno there, but we found 4." Her expression darkened, and she turned her gaze to the floor. "3 dead, 1 in critical condition. He was near death, but we brought him back and fixed him up." She looked up at him with a sad expression, "I'm sorry about your friends."

Excalibur closed his eyes. He could remember the screams, the shouts. Saryn had ordered Excalibur to get away, to abandon the mission and get to the extraction point. He had refused. Tenno fight together, after all. But it was no use, Saryn soon went under a swarm of infested. The smell of metallic blood filled the air. Rhino went into a rage, stomping and punching infested to pulp. But his iron skin soon fell apart, and he went under too. Now it was just Nova and Excalibur. He blinded the infested, and they raced to the extraction point. But they never got there. Rounding a corner, Nova was suddenly hit by an Ancient's arm. She hit the floor with a sickening thud. Before she died, Nova slammed the ground with her arm weakly, priming everything in the room. Excalibur detonated all of them with a single shot, and tried to save Nova but she was dead as well. They were all dead.

He opened his eyes. Jack saw the woman staring down at him, with the same sad expression. "You're not alone, Jack. There are others here as well."

"Other... Tenno?" Jack couldn't believe it, where was he?

She just smiled at him, and stood up. Walking to the door, she opened it, and stepped out. In came another woman, but in a suit. She was in a warframe. She walked around Excalibur's bed, and then sat down next to him.

"Hey." She grinned down at him. Her hair was looked like a wisp of fire blown backwards. Her eyes were a deep shade of green. But her suit was obviously Tenno. There was no doubt about it.

"..." Excalibur was speechless. There were other Tenno here?

"Cat got your tongue, eh?" She simply grinned even wider, and then leaned back in her chair. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Ember, and you are...?"

"Jack." Excalibur said weakly.

"Alright, Jackie. I suppose you're wondering where we are. This is Corpus outpost 5.11-8, but don't worry. It's more of a rogue Corpus outpost, where research is conducted on Tenno without dissection. Don't worry, you're safe here."

"Five dot eleven dash eight." Excalibur felt dizzy, why was he here? "Rogue corpus. Dissection."

"_No __dissection._" Ember corrected him, "Safe. Got that Jackie?"

Jack wasn't sure he 'got that'. The ceiling seemed to spin and he was having trouble focusing on Ember's face. Everything was out of focus.

"Woah Jackie, easy there." Ember told him, "Let's sit you up."

She grabbed him and lifted Jack up into a sitting position. She looked him over, examining his left arm the most. Then she gave him a sympathetic smile, "Take it easy pal. Your left arm seems to be broken in several places, try not to move it alright?"

"Alright." Excalibur murmured.

Ember sighed, "We've finally got 4... That's perfect." She seemed to be talking to herself.

"4 what?" Excalibur asked.

She just grinned and patted his arm, "Get better soon Jackie." She stood up and walked away.

"Wait!" Excalibur called. Ember stopped at the doorway and turned around.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"My name isn't Jackie."

"Got it, Jackie." Her eyes glinted mischievously and she left.

Excalibur shook his head. How did he get into this mess? He had went to an infested ship with plans of exterminating all life forms inside, but his cell got obliterated, and Jack got captured, and now he was in a Corpus outpost (of all places) with a crazy Ember and a strange woman. To top it all off, he was practically useless. His arm was broken, and he still couldn't move his lower body. He couldn't even get back home.

_Home._

Come to think of it, what was his home? Jack told himself it was the Liset, but it didn't feel like home. It just felt like a methods of transportation, something to carry him from one massacre to the next. Where did he belong? Everywhere he went, he felt like a stranger. Going to a Corpus marketplace, people always whispered and kept their distance. At Operations, where the Lotus was, he always felt outranked and inferior. People didn't notice him at all, he was just the background to them. Even at his clan dojo, he felt like he didn't know anyone. They were complete strangers.

Excalibur shook his head. He wasn't in a Nyx Warframe for good reason.

_Take it easy_, Jack heard Ember in his head. He supposed he should stop trying to be a psychologist and just get his rest. With that, he slowly nodded off as sleep wrapped its comforting blanket around him.


	3. Chapter 3

Excalibur awoke, drowsily opening his eyes. He was laying down, with a blanket covering his body, its edges neatly tucked in. It was a nice gesture. He experimentally tried to move his leg. It actually worked. Jack moved his arm, it responded. His left arm still hurt like someone had taken a fire extinguisher and repeatedly bashed it, but at least it could move… if only a little.

Excalibur sat up, groggily removing the blanket to the side. His helmet lay on a table beside him, and to his surprise so did his armor. Someone had apparently removed it while he was sleeping and then repaired most of the dents and holes. Then what was he wearing? Jack looked down to see a white shirt and pants. It had a little insignia, something shaped like a lion. Probably the mark of this outpost, he thought. Excalibur looked around the room, taking it all in. He was in a small room with a normal Corpus door. A table stood at the far side of the room, with multiple instruments and tools laying on a silver platter. Above the table, was the insignia he had seen on his shirt. To either side of him, there were large windows. The view was breathtaking.

Jack could see Venus, the large orange clouds rolling across the landscape and the occasional flash of light under the clouds. The sun shone just behind it, sending dapples of light that flickered across the room's floor. He had never payed much attention to the planets until now, and Venus was beautiful.

"Enjoying the view?" A voice asked softly. Excalibur turned around to see the woman who had treated him earlier. The sunlight shone across her face, her brown eyes twinkling at him. He had somehow missed her when looking around the room.

"Er, yeah. It's amazing." He replied, with genuine enthusiasm. She just smiled, and looked out the window too. Excalibur suddenly realized he didn't even know her name. He began to ask-

"My name is May, if that's what you're thinking." She read his mind, still looking out the window.

"How...?" Excalibur said bewildered, how had she known what he was going to say?

All of a sudden, a sharp pain flared in his left arm. He hadn't realized that it was still probably broken, and he was leaning on it. Jack gasped with pain, black dots swirled across his vision.

"You need your rest." May said firmly, as she came over and helped him settle back into the bed. "Rest now, talk later." The last thing Jack saw was May pulling the blanket over him as he sank back into the abyss of sleep.

Excalibur awoke to a gentle nudge on the shoulder. He turned over, wanting to get back to sleep and not be disturbed. Another nudge came, more insistent this time. Jack irritably flipped over and opened his eyes to see Ember grinning down at him.

* * *

><p>"Come on 'Cal, no time for sleep!"<p>

"What is it?" Excalibur asked, annoyed.

"Well you've got to eat something sometime, right?" Ember rolled her eyes, "Come on 'Cal, this is basic stuff. Food, water, shelter."

She held up a platter of food, "Eat up."

As Excalibur wolfed down the food (he had forgotten how hungry he was), Ember briefed him about the station they were at. It was huge, with everything you could have ever wanted. There were theaters, supermarkets, farms, and swimming pools. "Of course, I don't really swim, being Ember and all." However, being mainly a research facility, there was a plethora of scientific personnel, including May. They researched anything and everything, from biotechnology to technology to terraform a planet.

"What does May research?" Jack asked with a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Medical technology, she was the one who designed the RBH, rapid bone healing" Ember gestured at Jack's left arm, "It should be fine now."

Excalibur experimentally flexed his arm, to his surprise she was right. It didn't hurt anymore, though he could still tell it was relatively weak. No harm done, though. He was right handed.

"You'll be discharged soon, so get your rest while you can." Ember said, with a hint of excitement.

"What then?" Excalibur asked, "do I just go home?"

Ember shook her head, "For now you have to work with us, we have no means of sending you back home."

Excalibur was stunned, "What do you mean?" He didn't want to anger the Lotus by staying with the Corpus.

"Think, the reason that the Grineer and other Corpus—Excalibur noticed how she said _other_ Corpus— have not launched a fleet to destroy us is because they can't find the Tenno. How do you expect us to send you to your home if we have no idea where it is in the first place?" Ember said.

"Can't we just send a signal or something?"

Ember was about to answer when the room suddenly shook. The windows rattled, and she was thrown back into the table. Tools slid onto the ground, clattering with each rumble. Excalibur was still on the bed, but the food tray had flown across the room and hit the wall with a shattering bang. Red lights appeared, flashing inside the room. The door's light had turned from green to red, which meant that it was locked.

Ember cursed, struggling to get to her feet amidst a pile of broccoli and steak that had flown off the food tray. She managed to get on her feet, when an explosion shattered the windows, depressurizing the room and threatening to suck both of them out into space. He held his breath, and threw himself off his bed as it was sucked out the windows.

Tenno were trained in many, many different areas. Some of them were normal, like science and math courses. Others were geared toward combat, how to shape your power and use it to your advantage. Fortunately for Excalibur, they were also taught how to hold your breath… and he could hold his for a very, very long time.

Surveying the room, Jack spotted Ember on the ground, clutching her throat with one hand and pounding the ground with the other. Dashing towards her, the table was suddenly and violently sucked out the (now broken) windows narrowly missing him. Excalibur grabbed Ember's arm, pulled her to the door, and pounded on it. It wouldn't budge. Cursing, he let go of Ember, took a few steps backwards, and then ran forward, ramming the door open with his shoulder. To his surprise, it actually flew open before he even rammed it, he actually stumbled forward a few meters before stopping himself. Turning around, he grabbed Ember, pulling her into the corridor. The doors slid shut, and the chamber was repressurized.

Excalibur gulped in air like a long lost friend. Ember coughed and spluttered next to him. When he regained his senses, he looked around. They were in a long passageway, with one door on the far end, and the door they had just come from opposite of it. Other than that, there was nothing more to it.

Ember sat up beside him, wincing in pain as she did, "Ah, I think- ahh- I broke an ankle." She gasped in pain as she adjusted her foot. "I must have fallen at a bad angle." Ember stared down at the ground, "Thanks for helping me back there, Jack."

"It was nothing, no worries Ember." He replied.

"Yeah…" She seemed lost in thought, then shook her head and normal Ember returned. She grinned at him, "I guess I owe you now." Punching him playfully on the shoulder, she stood up and took a glance around.

Jack rubbed his shoulder, that punch really hurt. "Do you know where to go?" He asked her.

Ember rolled her eyes, as if thinking: _I can't believe he's this stupid_, "Well, I'm pretty sure there's only _one_ way to go doofus." She pointed at the door opposite of them.

"Oh. Right." Jack stood up, feeling like an idiot. The door's light flickered from green to red, as if it couldn't decide between locking or unlocking. There might be a perfectly fine station on the other side, and they had just experienced some sort of space debris collision. Or… it could be something much, much worse. There was only one way to find out.

He gestured towards the door, "Lead the way, Ember."

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><p><strong>Thanks for the reviews guys, I really appreciate it! And, yes, I will be finishing this story no matter what. But, I have to apologize for the very long hiatus between chapter 1 and chapter 2. Very busy cause school work and final exams and such. But, I promise the next few chapters should come out pretty quickly.<strong>

**-FuryEnder**


	4. Chapter 4

Excalibur stepped through the doorway behind Ember, and was amazed by what he saw. The ceiling stretched far, far above him, so far that Excalibur did not doubt that skydiving was probably a popular activity here. He was in an absolutely massive chamber, the walls on each side separated by miles of trees and greenery. It took his breath away, the sheer massiveness made him a little dizzy. Who had the resources and ability to construct this? From what Ember had told him earlier, there were many more like this station. But, what would normally have been a beautiful scene was now a war zone. There were explosions off in the distance, and smoke billowed from many different areas.

Corpus ships zipped by, flying in a triangular formation. Suddenly, the leading one burst into flames, and streaked toward the ground leaving a large smoke trail. Other ships began to combust and spiral uncontrollably towards the ground. One exploded violently, spinning into the ship beside it. This spectacle of destruction continued, until there were no more ships in the sky. Excalibur glanced at Ember, her face was dark.

"We better keep moving." She said simply, turned, and walked down the sloping hillside. Jack followed her, though not without one more glance at the destruction.

* * *

><p>They had walked for what seemed like hours, Excalibur was covered with sweat and exhausted and Ember wasn't much better off either. The trees around them provided ample shade, however that didn't diminish the fact that it was so hot. Excalibur would have thought the Corpus would lower the temperature down a few notches, but they left it to be as hot as it could get. One reason is that it's probably cheaper, much, much cheaper.<p>

Jack didn't know where they were going. He trusted that Ember did know where she was leading them. Tenno were specifically trained to be exceptionally fit, but he doubted any Tenno could walk for hours in a forest where it's probably in the mid thirty degrees celsius.

"Stop." Ember stuck her arm out, and held Excalibur back as he stumbled to a stop.

"Wha-" He began to ask but Ember put her finger to her lips. Her eyes darted from side to side, watching for something… but he didn't know what. Excalibur closed his eyes and listened. He could only hear birds chirping and leaves rustling.

Suddenly a reflection caught his eye. He remembered something that was vital in camouflage. Hide your metals. They could reflect the sunlight, giving your location away. Was tha-

Something whizzed by, and Excalibur heard a thud. He turned around, but the dark shape was already gone, flitting between the trees at an alarmingly fast pace.

"What was that?" He asked Ember. He didn't know of anything that could move that fast, beside other Tenno of course.

She didn't respond. Jack turned, and his eyes widened. Ember stood, frozen in shock, a handle protruding from her back. A dagger had been driven straight through her chest. Her hands clawed at her chest, blood flowing down her front in streams. Ember's eyes were wide, and filled with disbelief. Slowly, she sank to her knees, blood now dripping down onto the mossy ground.

"E-Ember?" He stuttered, "Ember?"

Her eyes slid out of focus, and she collapsed in a heap onto the floor. Jack scrambled forward, examining her pulse. She was still alive, thank Orokin. But her pulse was weak and unsteady. He swung his head, looking around them. Whatever was here, was now gone. Excalibur turned his attention back onto Ember, oh I don't know what to do, he thought.

"FREEZE!" Several voices shouted out all at once, coming from every direction. Instinctively, Excalibur dropped to the ground. Several shapes emerged from the forest around them, brandishing Corpus laser rifles and electric shafts. The light illuminated their distinctive box helmets, as reflected off the shining metal that made up their weapons. Excalibur did not like the way that all the guns were raised, and pointing at them. Suddenly, a soldier shoved someone out of their way and stepped forward.

"Authorization." The soldier had retracted her helmet, revealing a blonde woman with her hair tightly pulled back in a bun. Her eyes looked over both of them casually, lingering a little while longer on Ember's limp form on the ground.

They must have looked pretty pathetic. Ember was unconscious on the ground, bleeding out. Excalibur had scratches and bruises all over his body from whenever he had tripped or had a branch hit him in his face. The soldier lady had apparently thought so as well, because she just huffed and turned around.

"Get the docs for them." She ordered another soldier with a tone of irritation, before turning her gaze back onto them. She stared at Jack expectantly, but he had no idea what kind of authorization he was supposed to present.

"Uh… well this is Ember and I am Excalibur-" He began to say, but was swiftly cut off.

"TENNO?" The soldier thundered, her eyes blazing. Immediately, all the crewman around her stiffened, and turned their undivided attention towards them.

"Well, yes, but we're friendly- I swear! Er…" Excalibur rummaged around Ember's pockets, feeling a bit guilty whilst going through her things. But, she must have some kind of identification. His fingers closed around a card, and he pulled it out triumphantly. "Aha! Identification!"

She narrowed her eyes, "That explains her, but what about you. It's suspicious to find an unconscious Tenno next to another who seems perfectly fine." She ended with a very accusing tone.

At this moment, one of the crewman returned with a few people with red crosses on their uniforms, so he guessed they were the docs. They surrounded Ember, lifting her up and placing her on a stretcher before taking her away. She watched them, and after they left she turned her attention back onto Jack.

"Where's your identification?"

"Aww, come on Ada, he doesn't even have his suit on." One of the crewman spoke up, lowering his weapon and turning towards Ada.

She rounded on him, "Are you undermining my authority?" She demanded, her eyes filled with fire.

"No. Not all all." The crewman backed off, keeping his distance from her.

"Not at all, ma'am." Ada corrected through gritted teeth.

"Yes, ma'am."

Ada glared at him, before looking back onto Excalibur. Her eyes looked him over once more, before huffing and turning away. "You are to protect them until I get back." She said in a flat tone, then stalked away. The Corpus soldiers lowered their guns and other weapons, staring after her for a second. They stood awkwardly, looking at each other then shifting uneasily around Excalibur.

He didn't know how long he waited. The sun moved from above him to around halfway between sunset and noon. Jack sighed, staring around at the corpus crewman. He noticed that they had holstered their weapons, for the most part. A few here and there had their weapons still at ready, but their arms slumped down. Overall, everyone looked tired of waiting. Sometimes, he would see a few crewman staring at him, before turning away and acting like they had something to do. The first few times it was awkward, but he got used to it. A shout stirred him out of his thoughts.

"FREEZE AND DROP YOUR WEAPONS." One of the soldiers had brought his weapon out, and was pointing it at a bush off in the distance. Excalibur strained his eyes, but all he could see in that direction were a couple of trees and one rose bush. Suddenly, he could see a slight flickering, as if there was a distortion happening. The light seemed oddly refracted, when you looked closely gave away the fact that something was there. Suddenly the distortion shifted, and a smoke bomb erupted out of nowhere.

Shouts had now rang out, and the area was lit up with sounds of gunshots and laser beams blasting everywhere. Excalibur coughed and twisted around, trying to see. However, the smoke was too thick, and it filled up the entire area. His eyes filled with tears as it got into his eyes. Standing up, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Even without the suit, his senses were extremely sharp. He focused on listening to his surroundings. To Jack's left, was a soldier. To his right, was just empty space… at least he couldn't sense or hear anything there. In front of him were about 3-5 of them. Again, there was no one to his back. Suddenly, he sensed something new whip out into his left side. A shout and a few laser beams streaked through the smoke, before it fell silent again. There was no one on his left anymore. Another few shouts as he sensed whatever it was back in front of him. It soon fell silent once again, and Excalibur could not feel anyone near him.

The silence was unbearable. Still, he could not see. The smoke was simply too thick. What kind of smoke lasts this long, he thought? Suddenly, a horrible thought came to him. An invisible attacker… a smoke bomb… stealthy attacks… someone too quick to see… it all came together to form a terrifying suspicion inside his head. Were these Tenno attacking the facility. Immediately, he heard a voice in his head telling him that they would not attack, that the Lotus somehow knew that these people meant them no harm. But, the smoke bomb is a signature of the Ash Warframe… as was the camouflage and stealthy style of attacking.

The winds shifted, there was normally a breeze coming from the east. But he could not feel it anymore… as if something or someone was blocking it. Instinctively, Jack dropped to the ground. A blade flew through the empty space where his head was a second ago. The smoke started to thin out now, and he could start to see where things were. But, when the smoke cleared, all he could see were the bodies of corpus soldiers piling all around him.

"Wha-" Excalibur turned to see Ada's mouth open, evidently she just came back. Her eyes were wide open in shock, looking over the scene with horror. Her eyes met his, and she sank to the ground.

A static buzzed in the air, seemingly emanating from her. Ada seemed to have noticed it too. With shaky hands, she brought out a radio from her pocket. Excalibur could barely hear what was being patched through, but he made out a few words:

"Facility has fallen … there… death toll… catastrophic… all survivors… evacuate… repeat… evacuate facility…"

The radio cut off, leaving Ada and Excalibur in silence.

* * *

><p><strong>No safe haven is a safe haven for long.<strong>

**-FuryEnder**


	5. Chapter 5

The sky was a stormy grey, with clouds blanketing the sky like a river over rocks. The slightest sign of a storm was showing, the clouds creating a dark swirling mass. The darkness was unsettling. Excalibur knelt down besides Ada, her face was blank, as if all emotion had been erased. Her face was blank because at this point she had no more energy to be sorrowful. Excalibur stared around them, seeing the carnage around. Bodies littered the field, blood pooling out of the wounds. Eyes stared ahead, unseeing. Excalibur winced, however he was a Tenno. He was used to carnage.

He usually caused the carnage.

"Where is Ember?" Excalibur turned back towards Ada, his gaze intent on her.

Ada gestured vaguely to his right, "I left her at Camp Tesler, she should be safe there…" Her eyes drifted past Excalibur to the mounds of bodies behind him, "But then again, we should have been safe here too."

"Then we will make our way to Camp Tesler." Excalibur stood up, gesturing at Ada to follow him. Ada stood up, her eyes locking with him for a moment, before she dropped her gaze and stared at the ground. Ada trudged along after Excalibur, her body slumped and her morale broken. Excalibur was trained to read body language. All Tenno were. But, it didn't take a Tenno to know that she had lost the will to fight.

Excalibur saw it all too often. A powerful warrior, finally laid low in battle not by wounds, but by spirit. Death was a powerful weapon, and fear even greater. Fear comes to life and attacks relentlessly. Reason and hope are but a few in number compared to the onslaught of fear. Once you have given in, doubt sets in and you give up. The Tenno used to use fear to their advantage, intimidation was a very useful factor in the war against…

Excalibur wracked his brain, he couldn't quite remember. Who did he fight a war with before he woke up from that cryopod? Everything before was fuzzy, with snippets of memories that he remembered.

Jack remembered a military academy.

He remembered parts of his childhood (albeit not a very good one).

He remembered some parts of the Orokin, how he always wondered why they loved the color gold so much.

But, the rest he couldn't remember. It was as if someone had come in and personally removed parts of his memories. It was a possibility, but Excalibur just liked to think that they'll come back. Soon. Hopefully.

But he had to focus on the present right now.

Excalibur glanced once more at Ada, then quickly turned back around. Her face was simply too… Excalibur winced, something in him clicked at seeing Ada so demoralized. He couldn't remember, and it simply frustrated him. The memory sat at the edge of his mind, taunting him with its importance. Excalibur knew it was important, but it simply laughed at him and crept away.

"We're here." Ada murmured as Excalibur came to the top of the hill they had been climbing.

Excalibur moved forward, brushing away branches that whipped at his face. He remembered his Warframe suit, and suddenly he felt very vulnerable. Where was the suit? It had to be somewhere on the station. Excalibur knew he had the same type of powers he had outside of the suit. But everytime he had tried in the past to channel his energy into a power, it always came out messy and uncontrolled. Jack couldn't control his powers without his suit, and he had never learned how to. Tenno weren't trained to fight outside of their suits, it was basically given they were always supposed to be in their exo armor.

Excalibur stepped into a clearing atop the hill. He winced when he saw what lay below them. Soldiers were being rushed in on stretchers like ants crawling toward food. The camp was a bustle of activity, people were rushing everywhere. Blood seemed to be everywhere, and doctors were performing live amputations right outside. There simply wasn't enough tents outside. Jack felt only a little sick, seeing all the bodies and innards strewn carelessly around Camp Tesler. He had long been desensitized to such things.

"I'll talk to them about Ember in the main medical tent." Ada pointed at a large white tent with a huge red cross on it. "You head over to their engineer bay, I think you need to meet them." She pointed at a group of gray tents on the east side. Ada started down the hill.

"Wait!" Excalibur called, but Ada continued down as if she had not heard him.

Who did she want me to meet, Jack thought? He glanced back at the group of gray tents, then started down the hill. He stumbled a few times, but eventually made it down the steep side. Continuing on, he entered the camp. A few glanced over at him, but for the most part everyone was too preoccupied to notice one guy walking through camp. Excalibur continued on, walking through the midst of the camp. Every which way he looked, people were dejected, demoralized. Corpus soldiers patrolled the outer rims of the camp, but they too slumped and seemed to expect what was going to happen.

"Hey, watch it!" Excalibur jumped at the sound of someone's voice. He realized he was already inside the engineering bay. Jack turned and saw a Tenno standing with her hands on her hips. Instantly, without giving another thought at what he was doing, Excalibur had the Tenno pinned chest down with her hands clamped tightly in his hold.

"Hey!" She easily flipped him off, as she had her exo armor on, and rubbed her hands. "What was that for?"

"Are you friendly?" Excalibur blurted out, edging around her to a desk where he could see some blunt objects. They could be weapons if she turned out to want to murder him. Possibly.

"Of course I'm friendly. What kind of question is that?" The Tenno retracted her helmet, revealing a girl with milky gray eyes and pearl white hair. She looked young, maybe in her 20's. But, Excalibur knew that no Tenno knew their age. It was gone, along with all of their other memories.

"You're blind." Excalibur pointed out, before realizing that the statement might have been insensitive. He was never a smooth talker. Well, granted he never had many friends… Excalibur sighed, another memory he couldn't quite place.

Her eyes blazed, "Bright observation pal, got anything more to say? How about: I am female. I suppose that's quite the shocker to you." She gave a huff and flipped her hair.

Excalibur shook his head, "Ada said I needed to meet someone here. Can you help me?"

"Ada? Who the hell is Ada?" The woman glared at him, as if he had personally done something to offend her.

"Ada. You know. Commanding officer Ada. She came back here with another Tenno, Ember, before leaving."

"Ada?"

"Ada."

"Wait, do you mean Officer Mill?" She suddenly narrowed her eyes, "You're on first name terms with _Officer Mill?_"

"Well I don't think I've actually talked to her and called her Ada…" Excalibur shifted his weight uncomfortably, was Ada special here or something?

"Well…" The Tenno sighed, "You're quite clueless." She shook her head, and started rummaging through the drawers. At last, she pulled out a set of keys, which confused Excalibur (no one used keys anymore). She threw the keys at him. Jack caught them.

"What are these for?" He asked.

"You're Tenno, obviously. You pinned me down quite easily, and the way you move is calculated and precise. Your name's Excalibur? Good. Go get your suit on in room C6, it's down that hall. Now, leave me alone." She walked away, then paused, "By the way, you can call me Cecilia, or Banshee if you like. Now go away."

Excalibur stared after her. He still didn't know who he was supposed to meet, but he supposed that Ada could introduce them later. Now, his suit awaited. Excalibur glanced down the hall she had indicated. Rows and rows of doors lined the sides, each indicated with a bright yellow sign hanging from the ceiling. It started at A1, and moved down numerically and alphabetically. Jack walked quickly down, shading his eyes to the bright LED lights on the ceiling. They have cloaking technology, the ability to move matter through spacetime, and warp technology. However, for some reason they still didn't understand how bright and piercing the lights were on eyes. He looked up, adjusting his hands to shade himself accordingly, and saw C6 a few feet from where he was. Stepping forward, he took out the key. Excalibur slid it into the lock, turned, and opened the door.

Immediately, a blast of cold air hit him. Shivering, he entered the room. _What are they freezing, _he thought? Then, he saw his suit on the far side of the room. It was hung up, and his helmet was on a nearby shelf. Jack swept forward, taking the suit, and zipping it on. Tenno suits were designed to hug the body, as to allow for maximum freedom of movement and aerodynamics. However, that same design made it slightly hard to put it on. If you had looked into the room while Jack was getting the suit on his body, you would have seen a man dancing around and jumping all over the place. Luckily though, he managed to get it on within ten minutes. A record.

He sighed, the suit felt great and he felt energized. Grabbing the helmet, he placed it on his head. A faint _pfff _and it attached to his suit. Immediately, words filled his visor.

_Welcome back, __**Excalibur**_**. **

_Launching Diagnostics._

_ ::1.0.11_

_Shields… __**ONLINE**_

_ ::1.1.11_

_Indicators… __**ONLINE**_

_ ::1.2.11_

_Power… __**ONLINE**_

_ ::1.3.11_

_Control Unit 0… __**ONLINE**_

_ ::1.3.11_

_Control Unit 1… __**ONLINE**_

_ ::1.3.11_

_Control Unit 2… __**ONLINE**_

_ ::1.3.11_

_Control Unit 3… __**ONLINE**_

_ ::1.4.11_

_Miscellaneous… __**ONLINE**_

_Performance: 2872/2873_

_**SYSTEMS ONLINE**_

_Welcome._

Excalibur smiled, this suit was created who knows how long ago, and it still performed like a charm. He walked casually out of the room, closing and locking the door behind him. He felt invincible. Energy was coursing through him, and he felt in control. He felt better than ever.

Ember.

Jack stopped in his tracks. Where was Ember? Was she fine? Jack cursed himself for forgetting about her. He remembered seeing a lot of blood pooling around her. Ember.

That was when the first missile hit.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the long hiatus, been quite busy lately. This chapter has been fairly tame, but I promise the next one will be twice as long with twice as much action.<strong>

**-FuryEnder**


	6. Chapter 6

The missile hit with a bang.

Excalibur had acted instinctively, commanding his suit to transfer all energy to the shields and the shields alone. All he heard was the whistle of air as something came hurtling his way at Mach 1.

Debris. Shrapnel. Fire. Explosions. Chaos. The first missile caused this. Then, another one hit.

And another.

And another.

More and more came flying in, hitting tents sometimes hitting the ground to cause a large explosion and a huge fire. Excalibur saw it as he raced out of the Engineering Bay. The missiles just seemed to come and come again. More and more flew in, this time more were exploding mid-air. Corpus were retaliating, launching rockets to intercept them. But it was no use. When missiles were of no use, the Tenno came. When the Tenno came, no one but them left.

He raced past the screams. He dodged around burning people. Jack pushed past the people crying for help, he stepped between the rows and rows of bodies. Carnage. That's what this was. It was war. A very, very one-sided war.

Jack only had one thought in his mind. Ember. She was in the hospital. It was still standing intact, with a few holes smoldering but for the most part it seemed largely unscathed. He raced forward. He hit the doors open, stumbling past and racing to the front desk. One nurse was cowering behind her chair, eyes wide open with fear.

"Where's Ember." Jack gasped.

She didn't answer, only pointed at the "Emergency Room" sign. Excalibur raced away without another word. The red room lay ahead of him, and he braced for impact. The doors suddenly flew open, and Excalibur hit the opposing wall of the room, unable to stop himself. Wincing from the pain, he turned around.

A doctor stood there, her mouth forming a small 'o' as she stared at him. For moments they just stared at each other, the doctor staring in surprise, and Excalibur panting heavily.

"Where's Ember?" Excalibur panted, bending down and resting his hands on his knees.

"She's… um… do you need any assistance?" The doctor asked.

"No… I'm fine. But-" His eyes shot open as he realized who she was. Her soothing voice… her eyes... Struggling, he stood up straight and looked her in the eyes. "May?"

May blinked, then asked, "Excalibur?"

A rumble shook the building, and dust and dirt trickled down from the few holes that dotted the ceiling. Nearby screams shook them out of their shock at seeing each other. Excalibur pressed his hands onto the wall, there were people dying outside. He should be helping them… but then he shook his head. They were dead when the attack began.

"Ember is at the evacuation site along with Heath. You should head there, get out of the station." May said, while rummaging around inside the cabinets. Her extremely casual tone caught him.

"May… you're coming, right?" He asked tentatively. She stopped, hands frozen mid-air.

"Yes. Of course. Don't worry about me." May turned towards him, and gave him a smile. The smile didn't reach her eyes. They were filled with pain.

"No. You're coming." Jack stepped back, the realization of what she was doing shocked him. "One doctor isn't going to make a difference!" He shouted.

May sighed, her eyes staring at the ground. "When I first became a doctor, I was 21. I was… very ambitious. I dreamt of exceeding everyone else, of being the master of my trade." Her eyes didn't meet him.

"I thought about myself, instead of others." She stared off to his right, at the bed and IV drip beside it. "I wanted to advance my own career."

"But one day, two patients came in at the same time. One was a prominent merchant, the other a hydroponics farmer. I… I had a choice. We were so understaffed at the time. I could help one or the other."

"So… I chose the merchant. I saved him. My career was now set in stone, I instantly advanced up several ranks and my name was in e-news everywhere. No one knew that the farmer had died. Everyone knew me. Everyone loved me."

"But… I didn't love myself. I hated myself. The merchant, like most now, was a despicable man. He took advantage of the poor. I… I just wanted to be successful. Instead, I allowed for more people to suffer." May sat down heavily on a chair, her eyes brimming with tears.

"I just wanted to be known." Her voice cracked, tears were flowing down her face now. "But, did you know what that merchant did? He experimented on Tenno. He tortured them, tore them apart. So many have died under him, and many more are still suffering." May stared at him. "That's why, when I found you unconscious and near death on that ship, I brought you back and saved you. It was a way of… righting past wrongs, I suppose. It wasn't enough, it never will be."

Jack stood, stoic and silent. May stood up, coming around the table. Her fingers slid slowly across the edge. She stood in front of him, eyes filled with tears, but inside them a fire burned.

"Promise me one thing, Excalibur." Her eyes penetrated his visor like it wasn't there. Her hand touched the side of his visor. "Stop the merchant, Alad V."

"I promise." Excalibur said quietly, his voice scarcely above a whisper. May smiled, a sad, knowing smile. Her fingers trailed across his armor. May dropped her gaze and turned away from him. The sound of footsteps echoed through the room, as the door swung closed.

"My name's not Excalibur." He muttered when she was gone. "It's just Jack."

* * *

><p>Jack ran. All around him, explosions were shaking the earth. Debris was flying everywhere, people being impaled by shrapnel. Some were luckier, instead dying in the initial explosion. He would have died too, but his exo armor automatically detects incoming projectiles. Jack pushed past a group of people, weaving in and out of the chaos. Sliding down, he took cover behind a building, or what was left of one.<p>

"Quite the entrance you made there." A feminine voice sounded to his right. Excalibur turned his head toward the voice.

"Cecilia."

Her helmet retracted, revealing her face. "Very theatrical. I give you an 8 out of 10, congratulations."

"What do you want?" Excalibur asked, getting straight to the point. Missiles were striking down all around them, and he didn't like the idea of staying in one spot too often.

"I want an apology for running straight into me and then pinning me onto the ground."

"Are you serious?" Jack couldn't believe she was still angry about that while people were being blown to bits around them.

"Quite so." Cecilia pressed closer to the wall as another explosion sounded to their left. "It's rude to not apologize for attacking someone."

"Rude?"

"Rude."

Excalibur sighed, he didn't understand this woman. "Alright, I'm sorry."

"Thank you." Cecilia didn't even glance at him, though Excalibur assumed it wasn't so much her being nonchalant but because of the fact she was blind. "Now, I'm assuming you're here for Ember? Officer Mill informed me your predicament. How romantic."

Jack frowned, "Romantic?"

"Oh yes, romantic." Cecilia turned to face him completely, pretending to be dreamy. "The knight in shining armor rushing in to save his beloved, as a battle rages on. Quite the novel. Are you interested in the writing business?"

"Writing, what?" Excalibur shook his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Cecilia was about to respond, before an explosion shook the building and debris collapsed around them. Screams sounded as a sudden barrage of explosions peppered around them. Excalibur drew his body closer to him, his shields wouldn't do too much against a large section of wall collapsing on top of him. Cecilia didn't seem too bothered, she might have even been humming a tune.

"Time to move, I think?" She said grabbing his arm and pulling him to another building. This one was slightly more intact. Only slightly.

Excalibur watched, the street had mostly cleared out now, with only one or two people left. Everyone else was either out of the area, or dead. There was a large amount of bodies on the street. One thing he did notice was that Cecilia didn't require her eyes. He guessed that instead she used sound waves to "see". His thoughts were interrupted as another Tenno raced across the street, sliding in beside them.

"Heath." Cecilia said.

Heath didn't respond, just took cover under the building. He was specialized in ice and snow, judging by the fact that he had a Frost Warframe on.

"There are more Tenno sympathetic to the station?" Excalibur asked.

Cecilia shook her head, "Just us… you, Heath, me, and Ember."

Heath spoke, his voice deep and quiet, "Tenno of the Red Veil faction are attacking us, Captain."

Cecilia nodded, "Thank you for that information. The rendezvous point is to our west. Our mission is to reach that point, evacuate, then move onto Corpus controlled territory on Earth."

"Earth? Grineer controlled earth, do they not?" Excalibur asked, the last time he had consulted Ordis, Ordis had told him that earth was currently under Grineer control.

"The Corpus recently took control of most of earth, the Grineer are focusing their attention elsewhere."

"Ok. Ember is at the rendezvous point, right?"

Cecilia was about to answer, before the building they were hiding under suddenly exploded. Debris hit the ground around them, smoldering.

"RUN!" Cecilia slipped away, as did Heath. Excalibur was slower, and made the mistake of looking up. A large section of the building gave away, and the wall collapsed… straight on top of him.

* * *

><p>Excalibur awoke with a ringing headache. He struggled to his feet, as dust settled around him.<p>

When he looked up, stars clouded his vision. Groaning, he staggered around, before his vision cleared and he found that he was alone. The sky had darkened, and stars had come out. They were obviously artificial, as day and night didn't exist in space.

Stepping about, he glanced around. Heath and Cecilia were gone, and they probably assumed he was dead, or they were just massive jerks. Excalibur examined his surroundings. Buildings had been levelled completely, and he could see far in all directions. Bodies were minimal, however, someone might have came through and "cleaned" up. He opened the compass on his visor. Cecilia had said the rendezvous point was west, so he might as well head there. Jack stared westward, where he could see faint lights. Between him and that point lay no small amount of trees. Moving forward at a jog, he entered the forest.

Jack moved through the woods. Stepping over a mossy log, he entered a clearing. Crickets sounded all around him, their distinctive noise drowning out all other sounds. The trees were thick all around him, making the night even darker. Suddenly, he spotted a small movement out of the corner of his eye. Before his visor even detected movement, his head swung towards the direction of the movement.

A kunai whizzed by his head, missing by centimeters. It buried itself deep inside a tree. Instinctively, Jack hit the ground, keeping his body low. Several more kunai whooshed past where his head was moments before. He knew who the enemy were. Only one faction used kunai. A lone Tenno was hunting him.

Slowly, silently, Excalibur brought out a dagger. It was the only weapon he had on him, and now he wished he had brought more firepower along. He crept along, making sure that the assailant wouldn't know his exact whereabouts. Picking up a rock, Excalibur threw it, hitting the bark of a tree. Instantly, the tree became littered with kunai.

Jack crept further towards the area where the kunai came from. The darkness made it hard to see if there was anyone actually there, but he trusted his instincts. His visor helped him, sending out sonic pulses to map out the area. One area was fuzzy, and Excalibur knew why. Tenno were often equipped with sound interference devices, and this one must be destructively interfering with the sound waves he was sending out. That area would be virtually impossible to map out, so moving inside and seeing for himself was the only option.

Excalibur crawled towards the area, which was a large tree surrounded by rose bushes. As he reached it, he spotted a device on the ground. Inching forward, he was careful not to make a sound. Upon reaching the device, he saw that it was a simple little thing. It was a speaker attached to an oscilloscope. The oscilloscope would detect the frequency and amplitude of the sound waves Jack sent out, then transfer that information to the speaker so it could send out waves that would be designed to cancel his waves out. The Tenno must be in the vicinity, unless…

It was a trap.

Jack spun around, straight into the face of a kunai. Its razor sharp edge staring him straight in the face. Another kunai was placed directly below his chin, pressing gently but firmly into his exoskeleton. His shield was useless this close. He raised his eyes, to see that it was a Valkyr Warframe wielding the weapons.

"Identify yourself." Came the voice, a surprisingly thick British accent included. Excalibur almost shook his head. What was 'British', and how did he remember how the accent sounded? They were provinces in the Orokin territory on earth, something before the cryosleep and something he definitely shouldn't remember.

"Will you take the kunai away if I do?" Excalibur asked, testing the limits.

"No. I might spare your life, however." Came the reply, firm and serious.

Excalibur smiled, though he knew she couldn't see it. "I think I'll pass then."

Swift as the wind, Jack swung his hand, knocking her Kunai under his chin to the ground. His other hand came up at the same time, grabbing her other hand, twisting it to make her drop the Kunai. Sweeping down, he used his legs to knock her over. Placing a foot on her chest and his dagger to her neck, he laughed quietly.

"Fool!" Valkyr shouted before she gasped as Excalibur pressed down harder with his foot.

"Leave me be, and I'll spare you."

"I'll come after you." Valkyr hissed, her Warframe beginning to glow red with rage.

"If you do-" Excalibur leaned in closer, "you'll learn that I can do much more than pin you."

Valkyr said nothing, but turned her head to the side and held up her hands in surrender.

Excalibur stood up, dusted himself off, then turned around and walked away. Valkyr sat up, rubbing her chest and hand. She simply stared after him. More importantly, she was staring at the tiny tracker she had placed under his arm. Valkyr smiled as she saw that he went on his way. He wasn't getting away that easily.

* * *

><p>Jack stepped out of the foliage, stumbling a bit over a tree root. He had arrived at the rendezvous point. People milled around, and orders were being given rapidly. Escape pods littered the area, resembling large rockets. Their tips gleaned from the headlights that were shining into the sky. Excalibur stared in disbelief as he recognized that here, the stars were real. They sparkled and shined, and Jack longed to be in space.<p>

"Jackie!" A sudden shape separated itself from the crowd of people, and crashed into Excalibur knocking him over.

Excalibur immediately recognized the crazy hair, "Ember?"

Ember sat on top of him, her eyes sparkling and her hair was a mess. She grinned wide, "Are you OK? When the Captain and Frost arrived without you, I thought there was something wrong. You're not hurt, are you?"

Jack laughed, "I think I should be asking you that. Did they patch you up alright?"

Ember laughed as well, "I'm fine. My body still aches a little bit though."

"That's probably because you ran into me."

"Probably."

"Er, can you get off me now?" Excalibur asked, his back starting to ache.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Ember blushed as she got off him, sitting cross legged in the grass beside him.

"Hey, lovebirds! Get over here." A voice Jack recognized as Cecilia shouted at them. He sat up, seeing her across the field, standing next to a slightly smaller escape pod.

"We should go. Our escape pod's ready." Ember led him over, as Cecilia glared at them.

"Ember, get inside. I need to talk to this him." As Ember got inside the escape pod, Cecilia folded her arms and glared at him. "I expect no trouble from you while we're inside the pod. You're sharing a room with Heath, so get to know him well."

"Yes ma'am." Excalibur stood still, head up and arms straight by his side.

"We're expected to work together, so don't upset him. _L'union fait la force._" She said, turning away.

"Er, what was that?" Excalibur suddenly received a rush of memories, all involving languages and provinces of the Orokin era. "Was that… French?"

"Uh." Cecilia's cheeks reddened, "What I meant to say, was that you're stronger in a group than alone. _Il est bon d'avoir des amis partout._ "

"Er, yes of course." Jack frowned, he had no idea what she just said.

Cecilia was about to turn, before she frowned. Shrugging, she turned around and stepped halfway in the escape pod. Turning, she gave him a half smile, "By the way, nice tracker on your arm. Is that a new fashion statement? _Stupide._" Turning back around, she entered the escape pod.

Excalibur lifted his arm up, before seeing a tiny circular device attached to his armor. Plucking it off, he crushed it, before throwing the remains onto the grass. Jack stepped into the escape pod.

Here we go, he thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, FuryEnder here and I just want to thank you for reading this chapter. I'm hoping to have monthly updates to the story, possibly even quicker. No promises though. Thanks!<strong>

**-FuryEnder**


	7. Chapter 7

Valkyr stamped her feet in frustration. The tracker she had embedded on Excalibur had been destroyed. That idiot must have accidentally crushed it. It was virtually undetectable otherwise. It only gave out a tiny vibrational pulse. Valkyr sighed, laying her head down on the table. After she had encountered Excalibur in the forest, Valkyr made her way back to her Tenno ship. It had been docked at a hangar and she slipped in, taking the Liset back out into space.

Valkyr brought her head back up. Large text was displayed on the screen integrated into the table. Orders always came in this way, that way no Tenno could miss them. Standing up, she pushed her chair in and stared down at the screen.

_Mission was a failure. Return back to coordinates below and resume active invisibility._

Valkyr moaned. She would be blamed for the failure. The first objective was the capture _her_, but that had ended up failing. No matter how many Corpus they killed, there were always more and they always defended well. It was easier breaking into a ship, it was harder breaking into a station. The second objective had been to sabotage the escape pods. They were supposedly stationed on all sides of the station. Apparently they have been moved, and the Tenno couldn't find them. Finally, the last objective was the tag one of the fleeing renegade Tenno with a tracker. Valkyr failed all of those, and it was her duty as a commander to ensure the mission success. She took the blame.

Valkyr swiped the text to a side, saving it for future reference. Bringing up the ship navigator, she inputed the coordinates that came with the order. Activating invisibility, she set the ship into auto-pilot. Orokin technology, like this Liset, rarely required any human intervention. Just enter in some data, sit back, and enjoy the ride. Valkyr couldn't shake off a feeling that she had once piloted a Liset. It must have been before Valkyr had been frozen like an ice cube and stored away. Cryogenics was harsh on memories, according to Lotus.

"I really should get some sleep." She murmured to herself, before sitting down. Pressing one of the buttons on the side, the chair flattened itself out to a makeshift bed. Lying down, she drew the blankets that had been ejected from the chair around her. Closing her eyes she slept.

* * *

><p>Ember awoke. Her eyes darted from side to side, vision still a bit hazy. Wearily, she sat up in her bed. Memories of the previous day came rushing back towards her. Ember grinned as she remembered where she was. An escape pod. She always told Ceci and Heath that she didn't need an escape pod. Ember was undefeatable, and she never ran away from a battle. Unfortunately for her, a mortal injury is kind of an exception.<p>

Excalibur's here too, she thought. Ember smiled again. The Tenno they brought in so injured and pale looking eventually saved her life _twice_. Who would have thought, honestly? Her smile vanished as she thought of Cecilia and… _him._ They had one other member of their team before Excalibur. Cecilia and him had been so close. They worked seamlessly, always anticipating one another's actions. But, that Tenno was not here anymore. He was gone. Cecilia hadn't been the same ever since. She's been stricter, more sarcastic and her ordinarily bright humor had turned dark. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Cecilia had loved him.

Ember's thoughts turned to Heath. Heath was, well, always quiet. He never talked much. Whenever she asked him about it, he just told her he was thinking. Since the old member had died, Heath's battle tactics had changed. Ember saw the subtle differences, she knew. They always practiced a game called "Stratenno" (corny yes) which allowed them to play against each other, practicing battle tactics. They were more than just soldiers, they were generals. The Corpus, well, just this station, had always asked for their help. Rarely did they see actual action, most of the time it was behind the front lines planning it out. Before the death, Heath played against Cecilia and his tactics were always well thought out, hitting her forces as if he were reading from a textbook. Since the death, Heath's strategies differed. He used his forces, whittling down Cecilia's in devastating battles. Heath threw his soldiers at her with harsh military tactics, causing completely unnecessary levels of carnage and casualties. Heath had changed, they all have.

Ember thought about herself. Did she change after the death? No, she decided. I've always been the same, Ember thought. After all, it's not like she knew him very well. Ember was always below Heath and Cecilia. The old member had spent all his time with them. Ember wasn't bitter, just a bit confused. She's always been downcast. She couldn't win Stratenno against either one of them, and once on the battlefield she gets over excited. That was the definition of Ember Warframes, they were supposed to be the definition of _fury_ on the battlefield. Sometimes that wasn't a good thing. Actually, most of the time it wasn't.

Excalibur being added to the team was a fresh start. He had a bit of all of them in him, she thought. Excalibur was brave, Ember knew instantly when she met him that. Excalibur wasn't very talkative like Ember, a bit more like Cecilia. And, Excalibur _could_ be smart. After all, he didn't wander off in some random direction after he recovered from the building falling down on top of him.

Ember jumped as Excalibur's head popped into the room. "Sorry" He apologized sheepishly.

"No, no it's fine." Ember slipped out from under the covers and stood up. "Need anything?"

"Breakfast's ready." Excalibur pointed down the hall. "You should eat some, we're apparently going to land soon."

"Thanks Jackie." Ember smiled at him "That _is _your name, right?"

Excalibur sighed, "No that's not my name. It's just Jack."

"Nice," she replied with a smirk, "Just making sure."

Ember stepped past him, pausing only to punch him on the shoulders. He looked startled, eyes clearing up. Ember grinned, so she wasn't the only one who was tired.

* * *

><p>Cecilia sat at a table in the escape pod's so called "kitchen". She was surprised, it was so much bigger on the inside than on the outside. On each level was two rooms, and there were 4. The bottom one held a storage area for food. The second level had the kitchen and Ember's room, which they were on right now. The third level held Heath and Excalibur's room (they had to share but there were bunk beds). The fourth level had the control room and Cecilia's room.<p>

Cecilia ate her bacon and eggs in silence. Heath sat next opposite of her, but he wasn't much of a talker. Besides, there wasn't much to talk about. Excalibur had told them his story at the table earlier. He had even generously included some complaints about being "abandoned'" and even been indignant when she told him she wasn't sure he was much good if he was worried about being abandoned. Cecilia snorted, causing Heath to look up briefly before continuing on eating, Excalibur was such an idiote. He remarked on them being excessively quiet, her response was more silence.

Her thoughts wandered, jumping from topic to topic before settling on one thought. The space station, _their_ space station, was invaded, thousands dying. Officer Mill was the highest ranking officer on the station, and she was MIA. The next ranking officer was Doctor Sidfeld, and his current location was on Earth. They were hurtling towards the planet now. Cecilia let her thoughts slip back into French, relaxing and letting her native tongue take over.

She finished her breakfast, taking the trays and placing it inside a high pressured dish-cleaning machine. It also cleans other things but they mainly just used it to clean their trays. A soft _whoosh, _and her dishes disappeared into the machine. It hummed softly as she turned around.

"Up to control in five, Heath. Remind them." Cecilia told him as she left the room. He simply nodded.

She walked out of the room, turning left and walking down the hall. Her thoughts shifted as she mounted and started climbing the ladder that led up to the fourth level. Excalibur Tenno were always adept at commanding troops. She suspected they were taught that by the Orokin, though she'd probably never know for sure. Cecilia wanted to know what Excalibur had in him, and this was the perfect test. Stratenno.

"Up to the control room Excalibur." Heath told him as Jack entered the room with Ember.

"Oooo, is she testing him?" Ember exclaimed, her eyes lighting up instantly.

"Yes, against me." Heath replied, motioning for Excalibur to get going. Excalibur nodded at Heath, glanced once towards Ember's direction, and stepped outside.

Ember turned away, hiding her frown. She thought Cecilia was going to test Jack against her, not Heath. Excalibur will get absolutely destroyed against Heath, with no chance to show if he had any skill in the game. It didn't seem fair, then again Cecilia hadn't exactly been very fair lately. She had been disconnected. Cecilia had been spending excessive amounts of time alone, and Heath acted like a personal guard, keeping Ember out when Cecilia disappeared for hours at a time. Ember was worried, every time she saw Cecilia afterwards Cecilia had been looking extremely pale and detached.

"Go easy on him, won't you?" Ember asked Heath.

Heath simply shrugged.

* * *

><p>Excalibur stepped into the control room. Screens were mounted everywhere, displaying technical information. Lights were flashing, and immediately Excalibur was disoriented. He couldn't look anywhere without being blinded.<p>

"Put these on." Cecilia handed him a pair of sunglasses. Grateful, he quickly slipped them on. If he had his Warframe on he could have closed his visor.

Cecilia motioned for him to stand beside her at a table. He moved by her side, and looked down. The table wasn't exactly a table, it held a large holographic projection. It looked like a landscape. Mountains were on the far left, their peaks snow topped. As you looked further right, the mountains gave way to a forest, then to a large lake, then finally to a city centered around one extremely high skyscraper. Cecilia swiped her fingers, and 2 large groups, red and blue, appeared in the mountains far from each other.

"Those are the regiments. You are the blue regiment. Heath will be red. You start on the bottom, Heath will start on the top of the map. Your goal is the secure the skyscraper before Heath. Use any means necessary." Cecilia's eyes stared deep into Excalibur, though he knew she couldn't see him. "A word of advice, Heath's priority will be to destroy your forces over securing the skyscraper."

"Thanks, but, how do you see this?" Excalibur asked timidly, the last time he mentioned her blindness she didn't seem too happy.

Cecilia sighed, "I remember this game, and all the maps that it incorporated. I only became blind recently." She tilted her head to look at Excalibur, though she couldn't see him of course. "It's hard to play the game now, when I have to guess where my troops are."

Excalibur nodded, then quickly changed the topic to something less awkward. "How do I, er, control my regiment?" Excalibur couldn't see any buttons, and he sure couldn't remember any complex hand gestures.

"Just give verbal commands." Cecilia glared at him. "Don't do anything stupid."

Excalibur sighed, shaking his head. At that moment, Heath and Ember walked into the control room. Ember gave Jack a thumbs up, before sitting down on one of the control chairs. Heath moved to the other side of the holographic display. Nodding at Excalibur, his brow furrowed as he concentrated on his forces. Cecilia pressed a button, and suddenly he couldn't see or hear Heath. On the display, Heath's forces also disappeared.

"All Tenno have implants, we're just controlling that to manipulate what you see and hear, don't worry." Cecilia's voice rang out though he couldn't see her either. "You cannot see the enemy's forces in the game as well because, well, it's designed to be realistic. Good luck."

A cannon suddenly rang out, and the game began. Jack stared closer at his troops, they looked like Corpus troops but with a completely black helmet and slimmer, gold trimmed armor.

"Move down the mountain into the forest, then wait for my command." He told them, and watched in awe as his troops obeyed the order, pacing in formation down the mountain. He could even hear them muttering, and the superior officers giving orders. Jack could see text above certain groups in his troops, designating their name.

_1st Battalion_

_Fireteam Victor_

_Alpha Platoon_

"Fireteam Victor and Fireteam Nova, proceed in an arch towards this―" Jack indicated a spot, where he thought Heath's forces might be moving, "―and scout out the enemy if they are there."

Immediately, two fireteams branched off the main group and headed, each in a separate curved path towards the enemy. Excalibur could see every little detail, the troop's backpacks they carried and even the ruffling of the grass as they jogged on.

"Enemy spotted, do we proceed?" Excalibur jumped as he heard a voice. He suddenly realized that it came from one of the soldiers. The team leader of Fireteam Victor was radioing in to Jack. He grinned, this game was actually pretty cool. Focusing back on the task, he looked to see a platoon of Heath's appear on the map. They were headed down, in Jack's position. So Cecilia was right, Heath's priority was attacking Excalibur's forces.

"Negative, return back to main force." Jack commanded. "Main force, split into Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta, and Echo platoons." Jack had an idea, that just might work.

* * *

><p>Heath maneuvered his forces, splitting them into multiple platoons. Excalibur didn't know his playstyle, so he was making sure to take advantage of it. Like most new players, Jack was most likely moving directly for the objective. Unfortunately for him, Heath was also coming straight towards him.<p>

His troops arrived, but wait, something wasn't right. There were no forces where his scouts had reported movement. The grass that Heath could see was also trampled, but it wasn't trampled as if a force was moving in one direction, it looked more like a circle. Something wasn't right, surely this couldn't be a trap? Jack couldn't predict Heath like this for a stunt like this.

Heath's vision was blinded as birds suddenly flew up all around his troops, startled by something. Startled by… oh no.

It was a trap.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys and Happy New Year! Surely you didn't think I'd leave the chapter until next year? Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I wanted to show a little more into each Tenno's mind. Have a wonderful (rest of your) holiday, and thanks for reading. :)<strong>

**-FuryEnder**


	8. Chapter 8

Heath threw down his sunglasses in frustration. The black glasses clattered off the ground. Jack smiled uncertainly, as a large 'Victory for Blue' appeared. It floated around the hologram, as the tiny soldiers did comical dances of happiness. Ember gave a surprised gasp in the background, and even Cecilia looked impressed.

"Er, good game?" Excalibur stretched out his hand towards Heath. Heath didn't look too happy about it, but he reluctantly shook hands with him.

Abruptly, Heath turned towards Cecilia, "I want a rematch." He looked confident again. Like this time he could beat Excalibur, which was probably true. Heath would not underestimate Jack again.

Cecilia shook her head, "Maybe later, we're nearing Earth. Get suited up." Heath's eyes narrowed, before he stood up and dusted off his pants. Giving a nod to Ember and a look to Excalibur, he left the room. Ember followed suit, stopping at the door to give Jack a smile before she left. Jack stood up and motioned for the door as well.

"Not you Excalibur." Excalibur stopped as Cecilia spoke.

"Yes?" He asked tentatively.

Cecilia walked up to the table, swiping at the hologram. It disappeared quickly, replaced by a map of the solar system. She gave him a smile. "Quite the trick you did there."

Jack shrugged, "That was all I had really. I don't think I did too great. I guess Heath just underestimated me." Jack squinted at the solar system, there seemed to be a tiny dot moving towards Earth. That must have been them, he guessed.

Cecilia laughed, her voice surprisingly gentle. "Yes, I guess he did."

"I guess sometimes we get too wrapped up in our complex strategies, thinking like the enemy and anticipating every move, we forget to look out for the little things." Excalibur shook his head and grinned.

Cecilia suddenly winced, placing a hand on her head. "I think you should go now."

"Is there something wrong?" Jack moved to help her, but she pushed him away.

"No, I'm fine. _Honnêtement__._" Cecilia turned away from him. Her face was contorted in pain.

At that moment, Ember reentered. She was carrying a tray filled with various MRE's. Cecilia immediately swept past Ember and out the door. The door slammed closed and Ember jumped dropping a few packs.

"Did I miss something?" She asked, turning to stare out the door.

"I guess she just had a headache." He replied, as confused as she was.

* * *

><p>Cecilia climbed down the ladders, descending down to the lowest level of the escape craft. There, amongst the various supplies, she sat and tried hard not to break down. The pain was coming more and more frequently, and she had no idea why. It had something to do with Excalibur, she was sure. Ever since she had met him her head had been throbbing. Cecilia fumbled around her pockets, reaching for her necklace.<p>

She twirled it between her fingers. It made her feel safe. The necklace was simple, really. It was just a pearl on a piece of string. It had been a gift to her from… from the one before Jack. It was in her last combat mission, they had all gone down to Earth to infiltrate Grineer bases and steal intel. Before she had lost her vision. Before the world crashed down on her, and she realized the true meaning of loss. He had found the pearl… and…

_Stars twinkled against the darkened sky. Waves in the ocean crashed down gently. Further up, the trees rustled, their leaves blowing gently through the cool, summer night. Small animals crawled through the thick foliage, their noses sniffing for food. Suddenly, they scuttled away. A group of four appeared behind a thick tree, one of them carrying a large package of sorts._

"_We should stop now." Heath muttered to the rest. His feet were tired, they must have hiked halfway across the planet. The Corpus wanted them to get far, far away from the Grineer station before sending in an escape ship. Honestly, did they think the Tenno had infinite stamina?_

"_Agreed." Groaned Ember, stumbling behind them. _

_Cecilia looked around, taking in the area. There were several large trees around them, shading them from view. On one side of them was a shore, which could be useful for getting away. Tenno could easily swim, but the Grineer with their bulky armor (that was useless anyways) and their metal limbs could barely manage a paddle. _

"_I agree with them. I'm beat." Cameron, the Excalibur, stepped beside Cecilia, placing a casual arm on her shoulder. Her heart skipped a beat. She was suddenly finding it harder to breathe._

_When she didn't respond, he laughed and patted her back, before turning away. "Cat got your tongue, huh?" He asked, walking away. _

_After what seemed like an eternity, Cecilia turned around (after she was sure he wasn't looking in her direction by sending out sound waves) and walked back. "This seems like a nice spot for a camp." She told them. Immediately, Ember flopped down on her back. Heath just grunted. Excalibur retracted his visor, exposing his face. He was handsome, with short cropped hair and strikingly stormy eyes. Of course, Cecilia couldn't see this. _

"_Hey look, stars." Cameron commented to Ceci. She punched him. _

"_Go to sleep, I'll take first watch." Heath told them. Ember raised an arm to show she understood, and lowered it. Excalibur lay down on a particularly cushy patch of grass. _

"_Come on, there's room for two." He told Cecilia. She hesitantly lay down beside him. "Give me your hand." He said softly._

_Hand? Cecilia tentatively gave him her hand. He placed a fist on her palm, before opening it. Something was in her hand, now, she was sure of it. But she didn't know what it was. A bracelet? A ring? A necklace?_

"_It's a necklace, I made it from some pearls down on the shore." Cameron grinned._

_Cecilia felt the necklace. 5 pearls on a piece of string. She retracted her visor to put it on. "It's beautiful. Thank you." She was blushing, but she didn't care. It was suddenly so hot inside her helmet._

_Excalibur smirked, placing an arm around her. Her heart started to beat faster. Cecilia accepted that the lifespan of Tenno wasn't long. But as long as she could spend her life with _him_, she accepted her fell asleep together, a perfect night._

_Their last night together._

* * *

><p>"Hey, Ember." Excalibur called to her. He was examining a beeping red light on one of the control panels. He didn't know what it meant, in his opinion everything looked the same and he probably shouldn't touch anything. But, with his experience, red, beeping lights are not usually the best of signs.<p>

"Hm?" Ember came over. She had been eating some spaghetti.

"Is this supposed to be flashing at me?" Jack asked.

Ember tilted her head, "I don't know what that means. Usually Ceci pilots."

Excalibur raised a hand and gestured at the button, "Well I mean it's red and it's beeping, so obviously it's not good… right?"

Ember laughed and punched him in the shoulder. "Not _everything_ that flashes is bad, maybe this just means we're nearing a planet."

Suddenly, the door behind them opened. Both of them turned around to see Heath enter. He nodded at Ember and sort of stared at Excalibur. He was probably still upset over that game.

"Where's Cecilia?" Heath asked, looking around the room.

"She… left." Excalibur replied, glancing at Ember who just shrugged at him. "Oh, yeah, by the way Heath. Do you know what this means?" Excalibur pointed at the flashing light.

"Yes, that means excessive speeds nearing a celestial object. Either slow down, divert your course, or crash." Heath replied nonchalantly.

Ember's eyes slowly widened. Excalibur did a double take. Heath just grabbed an MRE, sat down, and opened it.

"Nice, steak."

* * *

><p>"Stability." Stalker said once again. "This system needs it. It <em>craves <em>it. Stability is what keeps things together. Checks and balances, checks and balances."

Lotus simply sipped a cup of coffee and nodded. He was right, of course. But the methods he took were questionable. "You ordered an attack on a Corpus station?"

The Stalker laughed, his mouth covered by his visor which he refused to lower. "How could I not? There were Tenno there, _allied_ with the Corpus. I could not allow this."

Lotus grimaced, glancing back at her computer. He had attacked a _research_ station, slaughtering innocents. No, he hadn't. Her Tenno had. Why did they not refuse the order? Did they have no conscience? Do they believe in right and wrong? "Yet you failed. _She_ escaped, along with the rest of them. Innumerable civilian casualties, yet zero target casualties. Wonderful job."

Stalker snarled, "I did not fail. I did not kill. Your pathetic Tenno did."

"_Because you ordered it!_"

"THEY OBEYED!" Stalker shouted, his voice echoing in the chamber. Lotus shrank back, frightened by his sudden outburst. Only he could make her nervous. He was unpredictable, one minute in a good mood, one minute slaughtering everyone he encounters. "They _knew _the order was from me. Yet they didn't refuse it. Why?"

Lotus didn't have an answer for him. The Tenno obeyed an order from someone who had been trying to kill _them. _There had to be other forces at work here. Perhaps not all the Tenno obeyed, perhaps only a few obeyed who had their own motives. The Red Veil, perhaps? Yes, it had to be them. They would stop at nothing to rid the system of "corruption".

"Stalker, do you know, which of the Tenno obeyed?"

He nodded once. "Of course."

"Where do their loyalties lie?"

Stalker laughed as if this were too obvious. He shook his head, amused. "Oh. I didn't notice that. All of them obey the Red Veil. Clever thinking."

Lotus grimaced, then she realized something. She _did _have one Tenno who didn't obey the Red Veil. That Tenno could go in, extract the target with or without casualties, then come back. But what about all the other Tenno? Once their leader left, surely they would follow? Wouldn't they realize what was happening?

Stalker seemed to guess her line of thought. He twirled his scythe in his hand, aptly named Hate. "The Liset may or may not be that reliable, if you understand what I'm saying." The Lotus could tell he was smiling ear to ear.

"Do what you need." She replied nonchalantly. But she was smiling too.

* * *

><p>The orders came immediately. A sharp <em>ping<em> sounded across the entire room. Valkyr woke up suddenly, falling off the small bed and onto the floor. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She was very, very glad no one saw that. The all powerful, rage-filled Valkyr falling off a bed? What a joke. She stood up, throwing the blanket onto the bed as it retracted back into the wall. She looked at her control.

_The rogue Tenno cell detected entering Earth's atmosphere. Speeds were detected 3 times the normal re-entry. Get to crash site, secure target, then leave. No other help will be coming._

Valkyr sighed in relief, so she wasn't going to be reprimanded for failing her mission on the station. That was nice. However, she frowned as she read the last line. No other help would be coming? That was a mistake, right? She had a whole legion of Tenno around her to command. That's when the first message came.

"_Hey Valkyr, are you having any trouble with activating your Liset?"_

Then another.

_"I can't seem to start the thrusters on my Liset, could you radio for Vauban or someone?"_

And another.

_"Hey Valkyr, I'm one of your techies (Vauban warframe here) and I can't seem to start my ship. I can't even seem to access Ordis. He's offline, which is strange because he's _never _offline. What's going on?"_

The messages came and went. A problem with their ship. Ordis being offline. Some couldn't even turn on the _lights. _The Liset was an age old ship, practically impossible to disable. The Corpus and Grineer don't have any _brainpower_ capable of disabling the ships. So what _was_ going on?

Valkyr shook her head. She had a job to do, and she couldn't stand around all day waiting and wondering. Her job was to extract her and get out. The command didn't say anything about not killing anyone else. That means that casualties are optional.

Casualties are _optional_.

Fun.

* * *

><p>"Oh no oh no oh no oh no!" Ember frantically ran around pushing seemingly random buttons and pulling levers. Excalibur simply stood back and watched as they accelerated <em>way<em> too fast towards Earth. Meanwhile Heath was sitting in the back eating his stupid steak.

"Get Cecilia!" Ember shouted at Jack, pointing at the intercom.

He hesitated, "Shouldn't she be in her room across the hall?"

"Who cares? Just get her!" Ember cried, increasing the speed at which she pushed buttons, again Excalibur couldn't tell if she was pushing randomly or she knew exactly what she was doing.

Heath walked up beside Ember, "This shuttle is garbage. Look." He pointed at a screen, showing structural integrity. All the front few levels were green or slightly yellow, however the bottom floor was deep red. The storage area was straining against the ship, threatening to break free.

"All of our weapons are in there... " Ember mumbled, her eyes widening.

"Warframes too, don't forget." Heath immediately took control of the panels. "You go down and retrieve them, I'll keep it steady until―" Suddenly the ship shook. The lights flickered and Ember pushed against the walls to keep herself steady.

"Oh look, everything's green again." Heath sighed in relief, before gulping as three words flashed:

_Storage Section Decoupled._

* * *

><p>Excalibur slid down the ladders as fast as he could. Cecilia wasn't in her room. He looked around on the third floor. No good. Second floor was empty too. That meant she was in the storage deck for some reason. His feet hit the ground and he half ran half slid to a large, metal panel. He pushed a button, pulling the panel up and moving it to the side. Jumping down in the darkness, he collided with―<p>

BAM!

His vision swirled as he hit the ground. What the heck?

"Excalibur?" Cecilia asked in confusion, as she pulled him up from the floor.

"Cecilia." Jack rubbed his throbbing head. His vision cleared, and he looked up. "Cecilia, were you, crying?" Cecilia opened her mouth to answer, but then the walls shook. Excalibur could hear pipes and supports moving around inside of the walls, and he glanced all around as the whole room rocked back and forth.

"It's decoupling." She whispered. Cecilia sprinted for the ladder, taking it a few rungs at a time. But, before she could make it to the top, the panel slid shut and locked itself.

"_Merde_!" Cecilia kicked the ladder when she got to the ground. "We must be going too fast, it decoupled this floor automatically. We're going to be entering the atmosphere soon, and it's going to get hot."

Excalibur did a complete 180, his eyes fixated on the Warframes that were stored in the corner of the dark room. Tiny lights pulsated on them through the thick glass pane that sealed them shut, as if they knew what was going on. "The Warframes." He whispered. Then he ran to the corner of the room, opening the containers and grabbing the Excalibur and the Banshee. "Put them on quickly." He said as he tossed the Banshee suit to Cecilia.

As they slid the suits on and the helmets slid out over their face, the room decoupled from the shuttle. Excalibur gripped onto the ladder, as did Cecilia. Could these suits withstand reentering the atmosphere and then colliding directly into the ground?

Time to find out.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading this chapter, and apologies for the super long hiatus without any warning. I've actually been working on this chapter for a long time but just couldn't finish it haha. Well, until next time!<strong>

**( And I see your review, Thingy. ;) )**

**-FuryEnder**


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